Feb. 23, 2008

Albuquerque Journal

Rugby Flap Spurs Changes at UNM
By Martin Salazar; Journal Staff Writer

A month after an audit revealed that the University of New Mexico had diverted state money for a think tank to the women's rugby club, the university is changing the way it does business.
   
UNM President David Schmidly said in an internal memo Friday that reporting requirements will be increased "effective immediately" for all UNM entities that get special projects funding.
   
Under the new rules, those entities will be required to specify at the beginning of each fiscal year what they plan to spend the money on and their major objectives.
   
At the end of the year, they will have to follow up with another report summarizing their spending.
   
Schmidly designated Government Relations Director Marc Saavedra to monitor spending and progress of special projects. The new reports will be submitted to him.
   
"I believe it is incumbent upon us to provide administrative supervision and transparency of all funds entrusted to us, including those monies appropriated for Special Projects," Schmidly said in his memo.
   
Released in January, a Legislative Finance Committee performance audit found that UNM's Center for Regional Studies paid an undetermined amount of expenses for the women's rugby program.
   
Sen. Shannon Robinson, D-Albuquerque, is the women's rugby volunteer coach and has been an assistant coach for the men's team. Rugby is a student club sport at UNM and isn't part of the university's athletics program.
   
Rugby team payments went back several years and included about $30,000 to help send the women's team to out-of-state playoff games in 2007.
   
At least $17,000 was transferred from the center's budget to fund tuition for rugby players during the 2005-06 school year.
   
The center, with a budget of nearly $1.7 million this school year, funds a number of programs, faculty positions and other activities related to New Mexico, the Mexican border and the Southwest.
   
The audit found that use of the money for rugby wasn't within the mission of the regional studies program, nor was it deemed to be the legislative intent.
   
David Harris, UNM's executive vice president for administration, has said he thought UNM was fulfilling "legislative intent" when it transferred the $17,000 for rugby players' tuition.
   
Despite the audit, rugby club sports at UNM stand to receive a state appropriation next year.
   
The $6 billion state budget— approved by lawmakers and signed by Gov. Bill Richardson— allocates $150,000 to UNM for rugby sports. The Governor's Office didn't respond to a request for comment late Friday.
   
The approved budget also includes $30,000 for rugby sports at New Mexico State University.